Serious question, what's ya'll thoughts on this? Is Rockets a better team with Morris taking over the starting 4?

From what is being told, Rockets like to have a stretch 4 to open up the lanes for Lin/Harden attack. Obviously, Morris has the superior offense compared to Patterson and is able to stretch the floor much better than him. Patterson's back to the basket game is a joke and so are some of his shot selections.

Morris Pro's:
More spots to score
better 3pt shooting
better spot up shooting
can shoot off the dribble (occasionally even with a defender on him)
provide better floor spacing for Lin/Harden
attacks the basket
Versatile can play the 3 or 4

Rockets offense has been gelling lately and it's real nice to see. His game compliments our starters well and the guys seem to be doing better with him versus 2pat. Floor spacing looks much better and the defense doesn't seem to have dropped off significantly as well.

I'm not saying Morris is the cause for all this but he proves a good case along with Linsanity 2.0. His confidence is rising and he is looking better and better out there. He hustles and actually rebounds for a guy his size. You can tell he has put in a lot of work over the offseason and it wasn't an easy road for him because of the injury and dleauge and all. The man kept his head up and is beginning to look like another Moreyesque pick. Morris definitely earned his due.

I know some may feel that he can provide a spark for the second unit but perhaps the coaching staff can figure something out by keeping one of the other guys in longer for a scoring punch then switching out etc. Patterson is a good player overall but Morris is quickly getting better and is the player with a higher upside.

Serious question, what's ya'll thoughts on this? Is Rockets a better team with Morris taking over the starting 4?

From what is being told, Rockets like to have a stretch 4 to open up the lanes for Lin/Harden attack. Obviously, Morris has the superior offense compared to Patterson and is able to stretch the floor much better than him. Patterson's back to the basket game is a joke and so are some of his shot selections.

Morris Pro's:
More spots to score
better 3pt shooting
better spot up shooting
can shoot off the dribble (occasionally even with a defender on him)
provide better floor spacing for Lin/Harden
attacks the basket
Versatile can play the 3 or 4

Rockets offense has been gelling lately and it's real nice to see. His game compliments our starters well and the guys seem to be doing better with him versus 2pat. Floor spacing looks much better and the defense doesn't seem to have dropped off significantly as well.

I'm not saying Morris is the cause for all this but he proves a good case along with Linsanity 2.0. His confidence is rising and he is looking better and better out there. He hustles and actually rebounds for a guy his size. You can tell he has put in a lot of work over the offseason and it wasn't an easy road for him because of the injury and dleauge and all. The man kept his head up and is beginning to look like another Moreyesque pick. Morris definitely earned his due.

I know some may feel that he can provide a spark for the second unit but perhaps the coaching staff can figure something out by keeping one of the other guys in longer for a scoring punch then switching out etc. Patterson is a good player overall but Morris is quickly getting better and is the player with a higher upside.

Neither guy looks like more than a marginal starter. Morris, as I said last yr can't play 3, he's a 4. Patterson is a low ceiling,hard working guy. Neither of these guys are important towards the future of the rockets.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by JasonXXX

That really sucks, man. I feel for you. I've only seen 2 games in the NBA (one to see Jordan and another to see Yao), but I worry about paying big bucks to see Lin play with McHale as coach. I'll just have to wait it out. There's no way I'm driving all the way to Portland to sit in the cheap seats or watch Mr. 4th Quarter sit in the 4th quarter.

Thanks for the find. Please excuse me for not looking up any stats to back my observations. This is just what I've noticed from watching the games. I could literally see the team playing much better and fluid basketball with Morris in the mix. Although Rockets lost to the Raptors on Sunday, he still had a nice game. Probably could've done better if not for the starting jitters. Also, the team probably just needed to adjust with him in the starting 5.

Patterson tends to take poor shot selections. He holds on to the ball too long at times and when he attempts to post up, we all know its a big fail most of the time. There is something about his game that disrupts the flow of this team as whole. For a big man, he sets some pretty poor picks and is reluctant to do so unless told. Don't get me wrong, I like 2pat overall but he's well suited for the bench unit.

Yes, for now, because he's clearly better in all respects but, long-term, no. Pat seems to have peaked and he's turned out mediocre. Nice guy but I want him traded. Still, Morris is going to be average at that position, at best. I want Motiejunas and Jones to take over that position.

They're both stretch 4's who are not going to post up big men in the NBA. I think we have some leeway with rebounding since Asik/Smith/Parsons are fantastic rebounders. Although I like Morris better, I'd like to see him come off the bench given he's better with the ball in his hands whereas as a starter he would have to be better at playing off the ball.

I would like to see us running plays for Morris as part of the second unit against slow PF's and smaller SF's.

sorry about the separate post. Smith is a good off the ball player, has good hands (pick&roll?), shows he can shoot mid-range jumpers (need consistency, ppat is better at this). he could stat at 4, what do you think?

sorry about the separate post. Smith is a good off the ball player, has good hands (pick&roll?), shows he can shoot mid-range jumpers (need consistency, ppat is better at this). he could stat at 4, what do you think?

This team needs spacing at the 4. PPat and Mook can provide that, Smith cant.

If Morris can slow down Zbo tomorrow then yes. I still feel he should back up Parsons at the 3 with T Jones and D Mo making up the PF rotation. T Jones should start when matched up with bigger teams like the Jazz and Grizzlies, D Mo starts vs everyone else. I do think Patterson is a good player, but the other PFs are just so much more promising. Id call Patterson one of those Jack of all trades, master of none. He is a decent shooter, but morris and D mo are better. He has a decent post game, but D Mo is infinitely better. He is a decent defender, but Jones is better. And yes, he is one of the worst rebounding PFs in the NBA. With 7.7 Rebounds per48, only 4 qualified PFs have less: Marvin Williams, James Johnson, Jared Jeffries, and Jeff Green.

Neither guy looks like more than a marginal starter. Morris, as I said last yr can't play 3, he's a 4. Patterson is a low ceiling,hard working guy. Neither of these guys are important towards the future of the rockets.

This.

For now, both players are being used to spread the defense with their outside shooting.

Patterson is a huge liability on rebounding and defensive end.

Morris is a decent spot up shooter but he forces things and has poor shot selection. His ISO ball hardly ever works. From what I have seen so far, I do not think he is a particularly smart player either.

Will not care too much if we lose either/both through trade/free agency.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Clutch

LOL at LOFs. This has been a disastrous -- I mean disastrous -- year for Jeremy Lin and his fans. 82 games of pure humiliation that proved the so-called "LOHs" right. The Rockets were better by simply removing him from their team.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rodman23

I see a lot of solid work in Zboy's posts. Each of his reply was carefully edited a couple of times and always well-formatted....very detail-oriented on box score and play-by-play analysis, too ... I dunno how he could be so consistent....